Attorney
Area of Focus
Additional Services
Industry
Education
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, JD, 2004, summa cum laude
John Carroll University, BSBA, Finance, 2001
Bar Admissions
Ohio Supreme Court, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2004
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 2004
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2008
Michael P. O'Donnell Partner
Contact Information

- Area of Focus
- Industry
- Education
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, JD, 2004, summa cum laude
John Carroll University, BSBA, Finance, 2001
- Bar Admissions
Ohio Supreme Court, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2004
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 2004
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2008
Biography
Michael is Co-Chair of Brouse McDowell's Litigation Practice Group. He has a wide variety of complex litigation experience primarily for sophisticated corporate clients with respect to product liability, contract disputes, premises liability, employment, trade secrets and real estate. He has significant first and second chair jury and bench trial experience as well as appellate experience before state and federal courts throughout Ohio.
Michael is a member of the firm's Hiring Committee and a former manager of the firm's Summer Associate Program.
- Biography
Michael is Co-Chair of Brouse McDowell's Litigation Practice Group. He has a wide variety of complex litigation experience primarily for sophisticated corporate clients with respect to product liability, contract disputes, premises liability, employment, trade secrets and real estate. He has significant first and second chair jury and bench trial experience as well as appellate experience before state and federal courts throughout Ohio.
Michael is a member of the firm's Hiring Committee and a former manager of the firm's Summer Associate Program.
- Professional & Civic Activities
- Michael is a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure and the John M. Manos Inn of Court. He is Legal Counsel to the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County and a Life Member of The Judicial Conference of the Eighth District.
- Elected to the Rocky River City Council in 2011, Michael is an active councilperson. He is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan (CMBA), Ohio State and Federal Bar Associations.
- Representative Engagements
- Involved in cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts and in arbitration matters: Tried cases as both lead trial counsel and second chair trial counsel in jury and bench trials and arbitration proceedings throughout Ohio
- Served as a Court-Appointed Receiver in Panzica Construction Co. v. Zaremba, Inc., et al., Case No. CV-10-717571 pending in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Case involved managing, preserving, and taking over a $24 million new construction 12-story mixed use (retail and residential) building in downtown Cleveland, OH
- Served as a Court-Appointed Receiver in First Merit Bank, N.A. v. Royal Group Limited Liability Company, et al., Case No. CV-09-681143, pending in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Case involved managing and preserving three commercial office buildings in Parma Heights, Ohio and was valued at approximately $2 million.
- Distinctions
- Rising Stars™ through a peer and achievement-based review conducted by the research team at Super Lawyers®, a service of Thomson Reuters legal division — 2013-2018
- News
May 11, 2023Brouse McDowell Names Several New Practice Chairs
June 24, 2022Brouse McDowell Wins Appeal for Westlake Manufacturer
February 05, 2021Cleveland Magazine Feature: Law in the O'Donnell Family
April 05, 2017Brouse McDowell Announces New Practice Chair Appointments
December 04, 2014Brouse McDowell Announces 2015 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars